by Topher Ryals

MoviePass: A Timeline of The First Six Weeks (Of Not Having My Card)

I, like many others, decided to give MoviePass a shot when its price dropped to the surprisingly low $9.95 a month. It was a great deal. So great I just couldn’t pass it up. So great the company was bombarded by people trying to sign up and the site wasn’t accessible. I gave up on trying to get things to work right away, but I eventually signed up on September 5. I’d planned on trying things out for a month and writing a review/summary of my experience with it.

MoviePass had something else on its mind, and I still don’t even have my card. Let’s take a look at what exactly has happened:

Sure.

September 5

I’d spent a couple days in August occasionally trying to sign up for MoviePass and eventually giving up because the site wasn’t working. I remembered it on September 5, when I realized It was coming out in a few days and maybe I should try to save some money. I signed up for MoviePass not really knowing what to expect. I hadn’t heard anything from anyone who had been able to sign up when I couldn’t, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Maybe it wasn’t.

Shortly after signing up, I received an email from MoviePass that told me I’d be receiving my card in the mail in five to seven business days. It would arrive to late for me to use it on It’s opening weekend, but I’d be able to use it for the rest of the movies I wanted to see this fall. Cool.

September 7

I receive another email from MoviePass, the subject reading “Important MoviePass Updates.” Okay. This can’t be bad, right?

The email tells me there’s a two to three week delay processing MoviePass cards and thanking me for my patience. It would have been nice to at least know about the delay prior to giving MoviePass some money, but it’s only been a couple days since I ordered and for whatever reason the company wasn’t prepared for a ton of people to sign up for its service when it became the most cost effective way to see movies, coming in at a monthly price under a single evening ticket or two early morning tickets.

It was a great deal, so I was willing to be patient with it. Two to three weeks isn’t too long, is it?

September 13

Another email, this one with the subject “‘Where’s My Card?’ – An Update.” MoviePass has tripled the size of its team and added another fulfillment center that will double the company’s weekly output of cards. Okay.

There’s a two to three week delay processing cards. Uh-huh. Now is that the same two to three week delay mentioned the previous week? Should I be expecting a two to three week delay from the date of this email? It’s not clear.

Nothing is clear.

September 14 to October 4

I reach out to MoviePass a couple times on Twitter, because it’s 2017 and that’s just how things work now. I get nothing from the company, but I do find out there are people who signed up during MoviePass’s first week at its current price who still don’t have their cards.

Yeah, this isn’t looking good.

Also, apparently you have to be within range of a movie theater to claim a ticket for said theater. Say goodbye to reserving seats on Fandango. Say goodbye to guaranteeing you’ll be able to see the most popular movies when you want to see them. Still, it’s only $10 a month. How do you turn that down?

October 5

After hearing nothing from MoviePass for three weeks, other than the zooming sound of their delay coming and going with no regard, I receive another email from MoviePass. My card is on its way, and it should arrive in about five to seven business days—because giving a range of days is too specific for comfort with MoviePass. It’s a little weird I’m getting this email just a couple days after learning about the people who signed up during the first week and still haven’t received their cards, but I’ll take it. It’s been exactly a month since I signed up, and I’ve given up on trying to understand how companies like this do things.

In the meantime, I’ve talked myself out of seeing a few movies in theaters because I’m going to have my MoviePass soon and I’d basically be throwing money away if I pay per ticket at this point.

October 20

It’s been a little over two weeks since my card was declared as being on the way, and I’m loving MoviePass now that I have it and I can see all the movies I want for under $10 a month I still don’t have my damn card.

There’s been no communication from MoviePass. No explanation for its lack of communication or the continued absence of my card. I’m done.

The good news: Cancellation Requests is its own category on MoviePass’s support page. So is Refund Requests. I guess this means they’ve had plenty of requests of both types coming in? Maybe, just maybe, MoviePass will do a better job of giving my money back than giving me the card required to use their service. Or maybe I’ll be back in another six weeks to provide an update on still not having my MoviePass card or my money.

$10 a month for all the movies you can see is a great deal, but MoviePass does its best to make sure it’s not worth it. If you’ve tried MoviePass, or if you plan to, I hope your luck is better than mine.